Ludlow, Massachusetts—The melody of chatter and laughter was a delightful sound for the Worcester, Massachusetts, congregation as 14 Northeastern teens and their families gathered for a fuel-up weekend Feb. 19-20.

Erica Rains, a local deaconess and event organizer, said they opened their home, the hub for weekend activities, because the teens needed a bonding experience.

“The teens in the Church have always had a special place in my heart and prayers and I know how much they love to get together,” she said.

Add to that deep desire the hiatus of teen events during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Mrs. Rains said the weekend was more a need than a simple want.

“It’s so important that they get together,” she said. “With the COVID[-19] [pan]demic, it’s been harder for that to happen. My husband and I were hoping that bringing them together on a smaller scale and making it more intimate would be an encouragement for them.”

And according to the teens, the weekend did just that.

Lydia, 15, of Pennsylvania, said it was “fun and wonderful” to be with her Church friends again.

“Just playing games and seeing each other was so great,” she said. “I’m taking home with me the friends I made and what I learned, that I can discuss the Bible things with friends, too, not just ‘friend’ things.”

New Hampshire teen Josiah, 13, agreed.

“I really liked how we could hang out with teens that we don’t see much every year. It was just really nice to get together again and socialize and be a part of a really fun weekend,” he said.

Josiah said the team-building exercises were a highlight.

The teens split into two groups to journey out on a 12-clue scavenger hunt that culminated in the building of a large tower that could withstand a storm.

The challenge came in building the towers out of some pretty random materials—tiny cups, marbles, string, marshmallows, toothpicks and straws, to name a few.

“We really had to work together on that,” Josiah said.

New Hampshire brothers Trenton, 13, and Mattix, 15, said they enjoyed the Bible Escape Room, created by local deacon and deaconess David and Kayla Rains.

“It was really hard,” Mattix said of the escape room, which kept the teens guessing at every turn and solving complex puzzles together. Nevertheless, the Caron boys were all smiles during the weekend events.

Part of those events included a Sabbath Bible study and Sunday-morning compass check.

“It was nice to discuss the Bible study, I really liked that part of the weekend,” Trenton said.

New England pastor Andy Duran said the teens were engaged in good discussion over the theme of the weekend, “On This Rock.”

“We covered some fundamental principles considering the identity of the Rock in the Old and New Testaments, understanding that the teachings Christ brought were from the Father and both the Father and Christ were in unity for those teachings,” Duran said. “We had good discussions concerning how to build daily habits and apply those teachings in our lives.”

The Sabbath Bible study was about building on the Rock, looking into the parable Jesus Christ gave in Matthew 7:24-27. It focused on who the Rock is—Christ—and to know and apply His teachings so that our lives have Christ, the Rock, as our foundation.

The compass check Sunday morning built on that same theme, going through the Sermon on the Mount.

Teens had the opportunity to apply Christ’s example of service through a project benefiting the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Each team helped stuff bags, handmade by members over the last two years for foster children, with essential living materials.

“When a child is taken from their home, they can’t take anything with them,” Erica Rains said. “This is a service project that the New England churches have done for years, but due to COVID[-19] we have not been able to deliver some of them.”

DCF has given the go-ahead to receive these donations again. The bags put together by the teens will be donated to DCF and go to children who are missing the most basic things, such as toothbrushes, combs, soaps and more. They also included some fun things, too, such as books, toys and coloring books with crayons.

Overall, the weekend was a success and we hope to hold weekends like this in the future.